Music Video

An animated Music Video having its live US Premier at the 7th LA Animated Film Festival. The video was animated, directed, edited and written by one man, Ash Tysowski, and produced and pitched by Jared Fontaine (aka the Idea of machines).

The video is a story of camaraderie and coming of age. It follows a teenage boy who sneaks out late one night to attend a party with his friends. Out of his comfort zone, he struggles to find his place in everything. Will he realize what, and who, is most important to him?

After the Spread has already won best music video at the Experimental Dance and Music Festival earlier this year, and had its Canadian Premier at Spark Animation on September 18th.

Despite not being able to attend in person, we’re super excited to be a part of the 7th LA Animated Film Festival this year!

You can find the Director on instagram @8_ashtray_8 or @ash.tysowski

You can find the Idea of machines @theideaofmachines on instagram or listen to them on your favourite music streaming platform!

Music Video

Celebrating the enduring legacy of Mac Miller, Hornet produced a 24-minute animated film in collaboration with the posthumous official release of the album “Balloonerism”
In the CG epic that spans 5 tracks of the album, a group of school friends are launched into a shadow world where they grapple with their inner demons and fears of adulthood. Director Samuel Jerome Mason built the narrative of the film around Mac Miller’s lyrical musings about innocence, self-sabotage, and looming uncertainty of the future.

Director: Samuel Jerome Mason
Producer: Greg Bedard, Michael Feder, Hana Shimizu, Miller McCormick, Heather Hardin, Stephanie Demeautis, Tom Corson, Aaron Bay-Schuck, Jeff Sosnow, Akila Gray, TJ Landig
Writer:  Sam Mason, Roland Kennedy            
Editor: Minsoek Kim

Awards:
Cannes Lions Excellence in Music Video- Nominee
Clios Branded Content & Entertainment - Music- Silver
VMAs Long Form Video - Nominee
ADC Motion/Film Craft - Music Video- Gold + Best of Discipline 
D&AD Animated Music Video- Graphite Pencil
shots Americas Music Video of the Year- Nominee

Website: https://www.hellohornet.com/projects/mac-miller---balloonerism-trailer 

Instagram: @hellohornet 

World Premiere 

Grumpy and set in his ways, Ira Dansby, a small-town ice cream shop owner, is stuck in the past. With a sour attitude and no patience for joyous customers, Ira must learn to adjust as his business melts faster than a sundae on a hot summer day.

Director: Jared Rosenthal
Producer: Jared Rosenthal
Writer: Jared Rosenthal
Lead Animator: Anna Bitonti
Background Artist: Jamie Tao
Storyboard Artist: Bianca Ramirez”
Editor: Arsine Prusalyan
Composer: Luke Snyder
SFX: Aly Burridge

From the start, the message to all team members was that this project should serve as a reminder for why we love animation in the first place. Our imaginations can be limitless. The goal was for every creative on the project to add their own flair so that this felt like everyone's project and not just one person's. The mission was to help everyone channel their child-like energy and release it into the artwork; to create a film with simple messaging that can leave you with a smile. And we believe we did this successfully.

Instagram:  @jaredarosenthal

Short Short Film

Désaccordé (Out of Tune) brings Maurice Ravel’s music to life in an enchanting 1910 Paris. Through poetic visual transformations, characters, settings, and everyday objects illustrate a segment of his Piano Concerto, exploring what music would look like if revealed in images.

Director: Audrey Levy
Producer: IIM - Digital School

Awards : 
- Animation Screenings Film Festival Striped Tale - Best music animation
- Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival - Best animation
- Golden Bridge İstanbul Short Film Festival - Best Student Film

Nominee :
- Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology -  Short Animation

Animated Short
Los Angeles Premiere

Dodgeball Dork is a comedic animated short about a young kid just trying to survive a game of dodgeball in a middle school gym class. Displaying heretofore unseen cat-like reflexes and ninja-like maneuvers, our star surprises the entire class, including himself. We hope you're hit with nostalgia as you see yourself in these characters and in our hero, Elliot.

Director: Jonathan Dunston
Producer: Kayla Dunston
Writer: Jonathan Dunston              
Cast: Daniel Carpenter, Grayson Hill, Jamie Raven
Animators: Jonathan Dunston, Anna Mudge, Elizabeth Olson, Jackie Ghidella, Kelsey Hunsberger, Azaria Dunston, Danielle Boxill
Editor: Jonathan Dunston

At the prompting of a brother and sister pair from Lafayette Indiana, a group of 9 animators and artists from across the United States worked together virtually to bring you the comedic animated short: Dodgeball Dork.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dodgeballdork/

West Coast Premiere

Bound by duty, but driven by love; Gravity Bound is a short film about the Man on the Moon, who defies the laws of gravity to draw a Shooting Star into his lonely world.

Director: Frankie Lasley
Producer: Ryan Angelo Cera
Writer: Frankie Lasley
Animators: Ana Sofía Bobadilla, Caleb Brown, Diana Cardenas, Ryan Angelo Cera, Rayan Chatterjee, Mel Dos Santos, Amanda Hawkins, Joshua Johnson, Frankie Lasley, Haochen Zheng
Editors: Ryan Angelo Cera, Amanda Hawkins, Joshua Johnson, Frankie Lasley
Composer: Tara Magill
Supervising Sound Editor: Billy Sheahan
SFX Editor: Aidan Jones
Re Record Mixers: Billy Sheahan, Jacob Bouie
Foley Artist: Hayden Blocker

Website

Instagram: @gravityboundfilm

When a young monk gets creative in the scriptorium, things take an unexpected turn as his doodles come to life!

Director: Alex Gentemann
Producer: Teddie Carlton          
Production Crew: Leah Simon, Alex Gentemann, Teddie Carlton, Madison Edwards, Jackson Reside, Alley Williams, Yoonji Park, Marlowe Gold, Mo Wright, Sarah Peavy

Awards: New York Short Animation Festival Best Student Character Design, New York Short Animation Festival Best Student Narrative Animation

Website: https://filmfreeway.com/projects/3439971

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marginalia_film/

Animation, Short

Otto was a loner in trouble, was saved by compassion and went on to save others. His story has just begun.

Director: John Dixon
Producer: John Dixon, Eric Stars
Writer: John Dixon, Eric Stars
Cast: No Voices
Editor: John Dixon

Website: https://johndarts.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johndarts9/?hl=en

A shadow monster influences Kye, a college student, to kill himself. Knowing that it is not the boy's time yet, a Grim Reaper fights off the monster and saves him.

Director: Linqi Sun
Producer: Linqi Sun
Writer: Linqi Sun             
Cast: Linqi Sun, Gina Zhu, Tabitha Lindsey, Chris London, Coleman Jeffers, Noah Gussow, Jayden Dumas, Destiny Dollson
Cinematographer: Linqi Sun, Gina Zhu
Editor: Linqi Sun

Soul·less, follows two robots who are hunted for a battery vital to their survival. It is making its West Coast Premiere at the 7th LA Animated Film Festival in the Short Short Film category. The film was created as a love letter to the style and genre of film that sparked my love for the world of animation.

Director/Writer/Animator/Editor - Jack Hannon
Composer - Jeremiah Bang
Re-recording Mixer - Nolan Kennedy

Film website - https://jackhannonanimation.com/165-2/ 

Winner of Best Student Animation at Peekskill Film Festival

A boy who watches too much TV wakes up one morning to discover he has a television set for a head.

Director: Brandon Barker
Producer: Brandon Barker
Writer: Brandon Barker            
Cast: Matthew Biddulph
Cinematographer: Brandon Barker
Editor: Brandon Barker

Awards: Official Selection at Phoenix Film Festival and Newport Beach Film Festival

This single-shot animated short reimagines the beloved Polar Express with high-octane chaos, threading through icy peril, living-room TVs, and surreal cinematic worlds. Packed with nostalgic Easter eggs — from original Polar Express moments to surprise pop-culture cameos — it’s a wild, handcrafted Blender creation that blends humor, suspense, and spectacle in one relentless ride.

Director: Landon Fernald
Producer: Landon Fernald
Writer: Landon Fernald
Cinematographer: Landon Fernald
Editor: Landon Fernald

Featured on the popular YoutTube Channel: Corridor Crew VFX React - 167 

Los Angeles Premiere

A gentle story that explores the arc of life from joyful beginnings to a graceful goodbye.

Director: Wesley Price 
Producer: Wesley Price 
Writer:  Diane Arkenstone           
Cinematographer: Animator and Composer: David Quesada 
Illustrator: Anja Slibar 
Editor: Diane Arkenstone

Website: https://dianearkenstone.com/the-robe-of-rainbow-feathers/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diane.arkenstone/

Twitter: https://x.com/DianeArkenstone

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DianeArkenstoneMusic

This is a three-video combination from a six-part series on YouTube reimagining Thomas the Tank Engine with cinematic chaos, butterfly-effect action, and original lore. This short playfully explains Thomas’s shift from physical models to CGI—through explosive mishaps and escalating mayhem. Bursting with nostalgia, pop culture references, and easter eggs from the original series, it’s a high-speed, hand-animated tribute to the unfiltered imagination of childhood.

Director: Landon Fernald
Producer: Landon Fernald
Writer: Landon Fernald
Cinematographer: Landon Fernald
Editor: Landon Fernald

Festival premiere

Three aliens stop by Earth to see the sights, and sample the cuisine. A local farmer isn't too pleased.

Director: Alex Braddock
Producer: Alex Braddock
Writer: Alex Braddock            
Cast: Alex Braddock
Editor: Alex Braddock

Website: https://www.alexbraddock.com/

Instagram: @braddrox

Los Angeles Premiere

Director: Ozzie Carmona
Producer: Ozzie Carmona
Writer: Ozzie Carmona            
Cast: Visual Renegade, Chuletin, Crudo
Cinematographer: Ozzie Carmona
Editor: Ozzie Carmona

This is an animated film about friends, a spiritual adventure and more relevant than ever in 2025.

Website: https://www.visualrenegade.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visualrenegade/

Twitter: Visual Renegade Art (@visualrenegade) / X

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063839970058

When her mother tragically dies, a girl takes a physical journey through the five stages of grief, where she encounters forest animals that are not what they seem.

Director: Matt Udvari
Writer:    Matt Udvari          
Cast: Kelli Bland, Kami McLaughlin, Kyle Haden
Cinematographer: Matt Udvari

Instagram: www.instagram.com/wherethedeersleep